Through anecdotal evidence drawn primarily from his time at IDEO, Kelley identifies ten innovative personality types who each play a key role in the success of an organization.  The book is structured around this typology, with an individual chapter devoted to exploring the strengths of each role (such as “the anthropologist” and “the caregiver”).  The Ten Faces of Innovation offers a personalized and well-documented account of the effective power of personality profiling in the workplace, and, in turn, how such profiling can best inform HR decisions and team building.    

Risk management is one of the most prescient matters facing companies as we enter the next decade.  James Lam’s book is an invaluable resource on the topic.  In four clear and concise sections, he outlines the context, development, application, and future of risk management.  Throughout the book, he uses current examples of businesses that have thrived (and some that have died) by risk management.  A must-read in today’s economy.

Gladwell’s third major book, Outliers, explores the confluence of cultural, historical, and personal phenomena surrounding leaders and innovators throughout history – those individuals who lie outside of the scope of normal human experience (thus the title.) Like his other two books, Gladwell challenges traditional assumptions about greatness and genius, and deconstructs the idea of individual merit.  Outliers invites you to think more openly about the myriad circumstances that contribute to making a successful leader.